We couldn't have spent our first Sunday in our new home city, more perfectly. Upon moving to a new place, a city neither Joshua and I had ever known much about before and what will now be the place we call home, we were lucky enough to know someone. Fortunately for our family, along with the one person Joshua knew, meant also knowing his wife and their beautiful family of three kids, all under the age of seven and their fourth little one, on the way. For Jax, it means a playmate, a boy, of the same age and two older girls, that evidently treats him and love on him, as if he was also their little brother. Making friends can take time and luckily for us, Jax especially, we were able to jump right into the comfort of having friends. They have started to show us around, introducing us to some of the fun family friendly places they enjoy going to. They have taken us to places we probably we would not have discovered on our own. Along with knowing this kind, generous family, we have also been introduced to others like them, people who in just within this past week have given us so much to be thankful for, particularly the company of people whom we were able to laugh with, share stories with, create new memories with and with their addition into our lives, we are quickly starting to feel like we belong, a feeling coinciding with home.
So on our first Sunday here, we were invited to spend the day on a boat and join our friends on a little trip to a tiny little island, in the intercostal water, off of Fort Pierce, about twenty to thirty minutes north of Port Saint Lucie. This tiny little island is one of their children's favorite islands to visit, because of the awesome rope swing, that pretty much defines this place for any young spirited souls, like most kids naturally are. For most of the day, swinging back and forth on a rope that gently glides over the water, was the reason for their excitement and laughter. We didn't bring much to play with. There was truly not much need for it. The little ones easily found so much to keep them entertained. The kids swam, made structures with sand, picked shells, played swords with wooden sticks and threw rocks in hope they would skip along the water. They particularly threw rocks longer than you would ever think anyone would find it amusing. It interested them so much. The outdoors really is a magical playground.
Outdoor fun is endless. It's amazing what an afternoon, out in the sun, in the water, playing imaginary games that seem to have no beginning or end, can do for kids. Jax particularly loves the water and being outdoors, where he can run freely and yes, wildly, with so much less constraints than what we would have for him in places where concerns of cars zipping by may limit his run or buildings that get in his way and turn his pathways into a maze and a game of hide and seek for Mommy and Daddy. I smile seeing him play with the textures of the sand, testing the weight of the rocks, creating his own purpose for twigs and sticks made of fallen lanky tree branches. I love seeing him thrive in an environment where his adventurous being can be celebrated. In these places, his sense of fearlessness can be seen so vividly as one of those traits so interconnected and embedded in his character. I love seeing him spend the day exploring his surroundings as though every single thing is truly interesting. It is as if everything is and can be of use, to him. I hope every child gets to have a childhood in which they can experience, time and time again, the most magical playground that is simply, the great outdoors. As a Mom, I am grateful to be able to give Jax, this kind of world where I am able to comfortably let his wild, curious, adventurous spirit free, where his childhood can be filled with many many more memories of a day, spent playing out in the sun, along the water with friends that run, jump and giggle with him.
Island off of Fort Pierce, Florida
Photographs taken on 5.18.2014
